The Wayne Legacy
by Lone Wolf8
Summary: After the fall of the Dark Knight, his family must cope and carry on. A short Author's Universe story.


**Author's Note**: Like my other story, final show down. This is a "what if" story and is in no way meant to follow any real continuity.

- - -

She walked through the foyer, humming softly to herself, her heels clicking on the hard wood floors. She was moving through the living room when she heard it. The sound of a heavy metal door opening. Her brilliant green eyes shifted to look at the grandfather clock and she raised a brow. She moved swiftly to it, opening the case and pressing upon a hiding catch within the antique time teller. With a soft roll of gears the clock slid away to reveal a narrow stair case leading down into a dark dank cavern. 

She stepped out of her heels, moving with feline grace down the stairs, not a single sound as she came into view of the main cave. Beyond the gigantic computer main from a single light shone through the door into the cave armory. The silhouette of a bat could be seen outlined by the light as she approached.

"What are you doing here?" She asked coldly.

"I needed to refill supplies." He replied.

"You didn't have to come here to get them." 

"This is the cave of the bat Selina, like it or not this is where I belong."

Her nostrils flared, her full soft lips pulled back into a feline snarl, her polished nails looking surprisingly more like claws as she lashed you and yanked him forward by a corner of his cape to be face to face with her.  
"You are _not_ Batman. You will never _be _Batman. _Bruce Wayne_ was BATMAN!" She hissed, her eyes sparkling dangerously, livid with rage.

"He's gone Selina… Sooner or later, you have to accept that."

She lashed out. Her nails sunk into the flesh of his jaw, leaving his chin bloodied as she pulled away after the strike.

He lifted a gloved hand to the inflicted wound, his eyes downcast behind the mask before he turned back to the armory wall and continued collecting tools, grappling lines, batarangs, smoke bombs…

"I've got what I needed. I'll have Barbara call instead the next time."

"Good." She spat venomously, still glaring with feline hatred at him. "Now get out." 

He brushed past her as silent as his namesake. He opened the door and got into the car. The Jet engine rumbled low before speeding out the launch ramp through the cavern into the woods beyond.

Selina watched as the fire from the engine faded into the darkness followed by the low rumble of the vehicles powerful thrusters. Her mind was a fog as she treated slowly to the computer's chair and collapsed with her head in her hands.

- - **2 Years Ago…** - -

She'd heard it so many times before; "Don't wait up, I'll be in by 4. Kiss Helena good night for me." He'd kissed her forehead then pulled the mask up over his face. A flutter of the cape, the roar of the engine and she watched the flame disappear out of sight in the darkness of the cavern. 

She sighed softly and a shutter ran down her spine. Something didn't feel right tonight, a feline sixth sense? Woman's intuition? She'd begged him not to go tonight but he had to keep a promise to defend the city. So it was that she'd reluctantly gone back up to the mansion.

- - -

"Miss Wayne! Miss Wayne quickly!" The old butler's voice was so urgent, so pleading.

She was up and moving before he could say another word. Silent as a hunting tigress as she sprinted down the corridor and leapt over the railing to the second floor landing, bounding down the flight of stairs to the first floor and down into the living room. She charged through the open passage, the clock already pulled back to warrant entrance as she darted down the stairs.

The Medical bay lights were on their highest setting. She saw him before she was even within ten feet of the entry way to the small cavern. 

"BRUCE!"

She wrapped him in her arms as she reached him. He had collapsed against the side of the operating table. The Kevlar chest piece was shredded to pieces. His utility belt was gone, his cape was in tatters and one of his arms lay at such an angle to be quite clearly broken, ever to the end the dark knight, his mask was still secure upon his face.

"Bruce! Bruce say something please!" She shrieked urgently, tugging the mask from his face, holding his head in her hands.

A meager cough escaped his lips along with flicks of blood. Alfred knelt be side the two, the horror and dread of a father losing a son in his eyes as he looked at the boy he had cared for from the age of 8. 

His voice was weak, like his body, it was dying.  
"Kitten…" 

"I'm right here Bruce, hang on!" She looked at Alfred. "Call an ambulance!"

"No..." The vigilante rasped weakly.

"DO IT!" Selina shrieked furiously, glaring at Alfred.

The gentlemen's gentleman quickly darted for the cave's emergency phone as Selina cradled the dying hero in her arms. The color was draining from his face, the dark blue leather cape was growing thick and heavy with the blood that oozed from half a dozen bullet wounds.

"Hang on Bruce… Please…" She pleaded to her lover, clutching him to her body as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please don't go…"

"Selina… I'm sorry…" He looked up at her as she gazed at him in confusion. "You were right… I should have listened… I shouldn't have gone…" 

More tears flowed at that, just once she'd hoped he would tell her she was right, just once she'd always wanted him to flat out admit that he'd be completely wrong about something.

"Not like this… Not like this…" She whispered, holding him tight and kissing his forehead as her tears splashed down across his bruised cheeks. "Oh please Bruce not like this…"

- - **The Present** - -

"Not like this…"

"Mom…?"

Selina lifted her head in surprise, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.  
"Helena? What are you doing down here…?"

"I… I heard you crying…" The young girl answered. "What are you doing down here…?"

Selina willed herself to rise from the chair and smiled at her little girl. "Oh just, thinking about your father." 

Helena looked at her skeptically. At 12 years old, and the daughter of two of the most brilliant individuals in Gotham she knew better than to fall for a line like that.  
"Are you okay…?" She asked, taking her mothers hand in hers comfortingly.

"Oh of course I am Kitten." Selina brushed her daughter's dark hair away from her face and smiled at her. She had Bruce's bright clear blue eyes and that seem magnetic personality that could enchant anyone the moment she met them. "Come on, let's go back up stairs…"

"Do we have to?" Helena asked. "Please? Can we stay just a bit…? You never let me down here…"

Selina frowned faintly. It was true, she never did let her daughter into the cave, but she had good reason. She didn't want to see all that she had left of Bruce grow up to do what he himself had done.

"Please Mom…? Please?" Helena looked up at her mother pleadingly. 

Selina sighed relentingly and nodded.  
"All right, but only a little bit."

"Yes!" She threw her arms around her mother's waist hugging her tight for a minute before springing off towards the trophy room.

Selina couldn't help a faint smile as she followed her. She found Helena just ahead of the trophy room entrance, staring at the display case.

Here were the costumes of the fallen, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon; the original batgirl, and finally, Bruce Wayne.

Helena put a hand to the glass, looking at the details of her father's outfit.  
"He must've looked so cool…" She whispered.

"He looked absolutely pur-r-r-rfect." Selina replied, coming to a stop next to her daughter and looking at her husband uniform.

Helena grinned up at her mother.  
"What was he like back then…?" 

Selina glanced down, the smile on her face now bearing a hint of remorse and sadness.  
"He was…" She paused, fighting back her tears. "He was the most incredible, amazing, stubborn, pigheaded, arrogant man I ever met… And I loved him more than anything in the world." She smiled, running a hand affectionately through her daughter's hair. "He never gave up on anything Helena. No matter how hard he got beaten back, no matter how bad the odds, he never quit. He always kept try."

"Like when he asked you to marry him?" Helena said with an impish grin. 

Selina laughed once more, beaming at her daughter for knowing just how to put her mind back into a lighthearted place.   
"You know I turned him down three times over the course of time I knew him? Three times I said no… No Bruce, it would never work out between us, we're just two different. No Batman, you're a vigilante, I'm a thief, we go together like cat's and water. No Bruce, I know I may have changed my ways, but there's still just too much between us, it would never work…" she quoted all her rejections as her daughter continued to grin.

"And then, and then!" Helena asked, grinning still wider.

Selina chuckled softly. "Yes, yes Bruce Wayne, I will marry you. And the batman too." 

Helena gave a little giggle before looking back at her father's outfit. She then pulled out of her mother's reach and headed into the trophy room. 

Selina sighed softly, looking at the costume in its case thoughtfully with a smile. There was no remorse this time, but reflection, thought, even delight, so many happy experiences with him. Passion, love, protection, even jealousy. 

"Mom!" Helena shouted. 

Selina quickly moved into the trophy room.  
"What is it? Is something wro- Oh my…"

Helena was standing before one of the display cases that was against the wall of the cavern.  
"What is _this_?" she asked, blinking, and grinning that impish grin once more.

Selina's creamy cheeks turned a hue of red as she looked at the purple outfit. The top was form fitting with a plunging V neckline and a knee length green cloak attached at the shoulders. The bottom was a mini-skirt that had barely reached her mid-thigh.

"That's… One of your father's trophies." She replied at last.

"Did _you_ wear this?" Helena asked with a wickedly gleeful smirk on her lips.

"Don't you get smart Helena Wayne!" Selina cautioned with a catty grin as she stepped to the display case and opened it, pulling the mask that went with the costume out and setting it upon her face. A purple mask outlined in emerald green sequins like cat eyes.

Helena stared up at her in silence. 

"What is it…?" Her mother asked finally, raising a brow behind the mask.

Helena smiled. "I just see why Daddy liked you so much."

Selina smiled gently and pulled the mask away, setting it back on the headpiece in the costume's holding case. "He loved you a lot to you know…" She sighed softly, taking her daughters hand and walking with her through the trophy room, looking at the evidence collected over the years by the world's greatest detective. "Every night before he went out he told me to kiss you good night for him, and even though I did, every night when he came home he'd tip toe into your room and he'd kiss you goodnight himself."

Helena smiled at that. "Every night?"

"Every night." Selina confirmed with a smile. "And every night I'd be there in the door way watching him. And we'd go back to bed together and he would tell me how much he wished he could be there to tuck you in every night."

Helena sighed softly. "I wish he was…" She looked up at her mother. "I can hardly even remember his voice anymore." 

Selina gave her daughter a sad smile, stroking her cheek gently. "I know dear… I wish he was here too. Come on, I want to show you something…" Taking her daughters hand once more, she led the girl to the back of the trophy room, into a smaller room without light. She reached a hand up and flipped a switch, illuminating the room.

Helena gasped in surprise, looking around. The room was filled with pictures, birthday hats, drawings, and even Helena's first broken doll.

"Your father always called this his greatest collection." Selina said softly, smiling as she looked at the room filled with memories. "You know he missed a lot of important times with me, he always made it up to me, but he did miss a lot… But you?" She looked down at her little girl and smiled wide. "He never missed anything with you. Every Christmas morning, every birthday, every Father's day, every Mother's day. Any day that was important to you, he made sure he was there for, Helena."

- - **8** **Years Later…** - -

Helena Wayne sighed softly, looking down at the picture in her hands. A picture of her at 10 years old, Alfred was placing a Cake before her on the table and her mother and father were on either side of her hugging her. In the background behind them were Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon and Timothy Drake and Cassandra Cain.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she slipped the photo away and lifted her head, looking at the graves before her.  
"Happy Birthday Daddy…" She whispered, bringing two fingers to her lips and kissing them, then pressing her finger tips to the headstone. "Gotham's still safe… Just like you always wanted, the City no longer needs the Batman to watch over from above…"

Selina smiled softly as Helena stepped away from the grave and back to her mother's side."And she kept her promise Bruce…" she said quietly, looking away from her daughter and to her husband's grave. "To you, and to me…"

Helena smiled, glancing to her mother as the older woman wrapped a loving arm around her.

"No more late nights, no more deadly risks, no more gambles… Gotham is safe Bruce, we can all finally rest in peace. There will never be another Wayne to fall in the name of this city." The ex-thief whispered, turning her gaze away from the graves and out over the grounds of Wayne manner, looking over the forest to the city beyond with her daughter.

The magnificent sky scrapers sparkled in the light of the sun. Arkham Asylum still stood across the canal from central Gotham, now a memorial and museum to Batman, his legacy and his deeds. After the fall of the legendary Dark Knight his protégé assumed the mantle, but where Bruce determined to forever guard the city, Richard Grayson refused to continue the vicious cycle. Gathering all that was needed on the rogues of Gotham each in turn, he brought them down one by one.

On the anniversary of Bruce Wayne's death, the Joker was executed, charged with crimes against humanity itself. 

Thought never fully returned to his normal appearance, plastic surgery and extensive therapy eventually spared Harvey Dent of his afflicted multi-personality disorder with the villainous two-face. 

Deemed incurably insane, Victor Freeze, Jonathon Crane, Pamela Isley and Jervis Tetch were convicted to life imprisonment in maximum security prison asylums. Edward Nigma, no longer fixated on matching wits with the masterful mind of the Batman was eventually cured of his fixation upon riddles and answers at the age of 62. He resides on one of Gotham's most well tended retirement communities and is a member of the board of director's for the Bat-Museum.

With Gotham's greatest rogues taken out of the picture, Dick Grayson set his sights on the mafia criminals that held the city in their grip. With no such figure heads as Carmine Falcone, Scar Face & Arnold Wesker or the Black Mask to bring them together, organized crime shattered and Gotham's Finest were there to pick up the pieces.

The Justice League declared Gotham City a zero tolerance zone on crime; enforced by heroes world wide, as tribute to the greatest detective ever known. The Mantle of the Bat was finally laid to rest in the cave below Wayne Manner. 

Bruce Wayne's vision of a crime free Gotham had come to pass, his legacy, and his promise to his parents, was fulfilled.

- - **The End **- -

Author's Note: This is what we all know as a schmaltzy ending. A sentimental conclusion to leave the reader, or in this case the writer, feeling good.   
This story was written more for me than for batman fans, just an idea that has cropped up into my head that I never really got around to writing. If you liked it, review and tell me so! If you hated it, well to bad, like I said I wrote it for me.

Thanks for reading! -LoneWolf


End file.
